Day: July 21, 2018

Cryptocurrency wallet service providers are always looking for ways to evolve and grow. MyEtherWallet is going in an interesting direction by adding the ability to buy Ethereum with a credit card. This new feature is made possible thanks to its new partnership with Simplex.

Another Step Forward for MyEtherWallet

There are quite a few wallet solutions for storing Ethereum and ERC20 tokens in a convenient yet secure manner. The success of MyEtherWallet has been well-documented. Its built-in support for cryptocurrency hardware wallets has certainly made life easier for a lot of people. Those users will still benefit from the convenient solutions provided by MEW when it comes to using and accessing funds.

To keep users engaged, the company is headed down an interesting path. Although its core business model will not change in the slightest, it has become apparent that the MEW team is looking to offer additional functionality. Integrating support to buy Ether directly with a credit card is a great way to potentially attract even more users in the coming years.

If there is one thing most consumers can get behind, it is convenient ways of buying cryptocurrency. In the case of MEW, the company is partnering with Simplex to make this process a lot easier and more straightforward. Combining an online wallet solution with ways to buy one of the most popular cryptocurrencies directly is always an interesting idea.

Simplex has been around in the cryptocurrency world for some time. The company’s AI algorithm and fraud-fighting techniques have made the integration of credit card support very straightforward for cryptocurrency service providers. If any fraudulent attempt to purchase Ether were to be made, Simplex would deal with the backlash, rather than MEW itself.

Existing users of MyEtherWallet will be able to instantly buy Ethereum with their credit card. Do keep in mind that one’s bank will have to allow them to buy cryptocurrency with their payment card. A lot of banks around the world have disabled this functionality, as they flat-out refuse to process such payments. Whether or not this will cause any issues for MEW users is a bit unclear at this stage.

As one would expect, there is a verification process which one must complete prior to accessing this new feature. MyEtherWallet users will have to complete this one-time process in order to get verified. It is impossible to purchase ETH from the site without a MEW wallet, but that is only to be expected. It is another big step toward making cryptocurrency more accessible to average consumers. Developments like this one will help the cryptocurrency ecosystem grow and evolve for many years to come.

At press time, bitcoin has reached $7,500, a coveted position according to most analysts. Many believe that $7,500 will lead the path to $8,000, and now that the first figure has been reached, the second will be easy as pie.

One source explains that the big number to be concerned about, however, is $7,530, and granted bitcoin can reach this number in due time, we’re likely to see explosive gains in the coming weeks. It suggests that $7,605 is the next big figure to hit, while $7,625 will arrive soon after, followed by $7,717 and then $8,000 respectively. This could then open the door to $8,034.

Support for bitcoin presently lies at $7,392. If the currency can remain above $7,439, all should be fine in the community, and bitcoin will likely continue experiencing price surges.

Bitcoin’s market dominance lies at 45.1 percent, which is a bit smaller than where it stood last April (48 percent). Also, bitcoin appears to be the only major coin incurring price ascensions, as smaller altcoins and competing currencies are struggling to maintain their positions on the financial ladder. Ethereum, for example – the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap and the number one competitor to bitcoin – currently sits at $467, nearly $50 less than where it was trading for last Tuesday.

One of the reasons for bitcoin’s consistent rises may be growing interest among high-ranking Wall Street players. True Digital, for example, is a digital currency agency led by Sunil Hirani, the founder of interest rate swaps exchange trueEx. The company recently announced two new interest rates, and has teamed up with Wall Street players like Goldman Sachs, DV Trading and Hehmeyer Trading.

“If you grab the data off an API from a crypto exchange, you don’t know where the data came from,” Hirani explains of the new rates. “99 percent of institutions that haven’t gotten involved will have more confidence in the market with a product like this.”

Head of Genesis Global Trading Michael Moro provides data for True Digital’s reference rates. He says the price data from an OTC desk is more likely to attract Wall Street investors.

“While the exchanges dominate volume, the truly institutional guys are trading OTC, and it might be a truer indication of where those institutional trades will get done,” he explains. “The OTC market is going to give you a much better sense of the price on million-dollar trades. What True Digital is trying to do is address the more institutional crowd.”

This, in turn, leads to an argument we’ve been hearing for years: that bringing more institutional investors on board will legitimize the arena, making it safer and less vulnerable to volatility.

Bitcoin Charts by TradingView

The Ethereum blockchain offers a lot of potential for innovation and new business models. Various projects and companies are actively building applications on top of this network. Despite some of its glaring limitations, Fuel Games is confident that Ethereum is the best option for its blockchain-based trading card game.

Fuel Games Keeps the Confidence

Over the past few months, a few issues with the Ethereum blockchain have become apparent. They are mainly due to scaling issues, although those concerns will seemingly be resolved fairly soon. Some projects have already switched over from the Ethereum blockchain to completely different solutions, as they are not interested in waiting around for potential scaling solutions.

Etheremon was the latest company to drop Ethereum in favor of another blockchain. The high gas fees were a limiting factor for the project’s team, and solving these issues could prove to be incredibly difficult. It is evident that Ethereum has a fair few issues to work out in the coming months and years, yet things are headed in the right direction.

Fuel Games, on the other hand, remains confident that Ethereum’s blockchain is the only viable solution for its blockchain-based trading card game. The company is working on a venture known as Gods Unchained, and it will give users full ownership of their in-game assets at all times. This is on par with some of the other TCGs currently being developed on top of Ethereum.

One of the main reasons the company chose Ethereum is its smart contracts. Through this technology, the company gives users true ownership over their cards forever. Even if cards were to be “nerfed” because they became too powerful, that is an option the company could explore. Once cards are locked by the smart contract, they will not be changed any further in the future.

Addressing Ethereum’s scalability concerns is a different matter altogether. Fuel Games is all too aware of how things are going, yet its business model is a bit different. Players of Gods Unchained will only interact with Ethereum while purchasing new cards or trading existing ones. The game itself is run completely off-chain. Consequently, this approach stresses the Ethereum network far less, and it wouldn’t suffer from any drawbacks if the network were to get congested again.

Fuel Games is also working on an infrastructure layer allowing video games to run on Ethereum. It is known as The Apollo Platform, although few specifics have been made available at this point. It is evident these game developers see a bright future ahead for Ethereum in the world of video games, despite the current scalability concerns plaguing the network.

Apllon Foundation believes in the free flow of value through blockchain, giving retail and other businesses the opportunity to take advantage of the decentralized technology.

July 21st, 2018, Location: Blockchain technology without doubt is a game changer in the modern, cut throat competition-based world. The decentralized technology’s efficient, cheap and robust system gives businesses the edge they need to stay ahead of the curve. Yet, most face hurdles in adopting the technology. The cost of starting a separate chain, hiring expensive experts, and upgrading hardware are just a few of the blockages that organizations face and consequently, they can shy away from the technology.

Apollon’s Solution

By giving commercial-level integration of blockchain technology into existing corporate infrastructure, the Apollon Foundation gives a cheaper alternative to companies and organizations to shift their working to the new age of decentralization. The platform offers:

• An Electronic Shop On The Blockchain: Representing the business on the Apollon marketplace, the shop allows any user commercial retailer, service provider or organization working in a legitimate and defined industry the right to open up a virtual shop, using APO, the Apollon token.
• Delegated Proof Of Stake: Using the latest Byzantine Delegated Proof of Stake model, businesses are given incentive for staking their APO tokens. The e-shop customers can also benefit from the staking model.
• Sidechains: By giving businesses the option to build their own side chains on the main chain, Apollon allows users to create specific chains that run off the main chain, giving shopkeepers use of specific technologies such as smart contracts and flashing.
• Independent Point of Sales System: E-shop owners can create their own PoS or any other form of customer payment system, with Apollon having no involvement in it.

APO Token Generation Event

The APO token drives the exchange mechanism of the Apollon platform. The Main token generation event starts on July 16th, with a tag of 1 APO = USD 1 and 248,000,000 are tokens available for investors. This follows successful private events which lasted from 7th May to 13th of July , where the platform saw contributors purchase 210,000,000 APO tokens.

JP Event And Apollon

Apollon recently held a presentation in the Fintech The Future event held on 10th of July. The event had Apollon showcasing its workings, with Apollon’s CEO, Alen Iau leading the hour long presentation. Mr. Alen kept the crowd engaged as he described the technology and the applications of Apollon platform. Considering the event was held on a weekday, attracting a crowd of more than 3000 people was impressive.

Visit the Apollon Official Website: http://www.apollon-foundation.org

Read the Whitepaper: http://www.apollon-foundation.org/static/file/Apollon_Whitepaper.pdf

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This is a sponsored press release and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views held by any employees of NullTX. This is not investment, trading, or gambling advice. Always conduct your own independent research.

Cryptocurrency malware is a thriving business among online criminals. Hundreds of threats still exist, and this trend will not be slowing down anytime soon. Even so, it seems the era of cryptocurrency mining malware is nearing an end, primarily due to low cryptocurrency prices.

The Future of Cryptocurrency Malware

Over the years, the concept of cryptocurrency malware has evolved quite a bit. What initially started out as a small-scale attempt to target cryptocurrency enthusiasts quickly turned into a multi-million dollar business. Even in 2018, criminals are still coming up with new ways to defraud cryptocurrency holders in rather creative ways. It is a worrisome trend, but it is only to be expected.

A new report from Malwarebytes paints a very interesting picture in this regard. Its Q2 2018 Cybercrime Tactics and Techniques study shows that cryptojacking is seeing far less interest compared to earlier this year. This is mainly due to the prices of all cryptocurrencies taking a big hit after peaking in early 2018. Less revenue makes criminal efforts seem less worthwhile, although there is no reason to think cryptojacking will suddenly disappear.

The recent decline in cryptominer detection is also notable. This seems to hint that criminals may double down on their efforts once the prices of Bitcoin and altcoins rise once again. When that will happen exactly is difficult to predict. The current trend simply isn’t promising, and it seems no real improvements will occur for some time.

There is also a new ransomware threat which consumers need to be aware of. GandCrab is the top ransomware variant currently being distributed. Although it made an appearance in early 2018, the malware is gaining even more traction as the year progresses. It is now being distributed through the Magnitude exploit kit. Rest assured more dedicated spam email campaigns associated with this ransomware will surface in the near future.

Although there are still a lot of concerns regarding cryptocurrency-themed malware, it is evident security researchers are making major progress. Cracking down on all of the threats is an ongoing struggle, but the companies are not giving up. In fact, it is thanks to their hard work that the security ecosystem is not in a worse place. Criminals will continue to come up with new tools, but they will be nipped in the bud eventually.

For the time being, it remains unclear how cryptocurrency malware will evolve. For now, anyway, things are not looking great. Cryptocurrency is not in the best of places price-wise, which has caused a lull in overall criminal activity. That situation may come to change in the second half of 2018.

Here’s what went on at the recent US Congress hearings regarding crypto: from calls for positive regulation to a crypto ban suggestion and obligatory “Ponzi schemes” comparisons

The Ukraine National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSMCS) has indicated that the Financial Stability Council (FSC) is considering further crypto regulation in that country.

The FSC is the Ukrainian body responsible for assessing and minimizing risk in the country’s national financial sector. The council comprises of the Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, the Minister of Finance, heads of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission and the National Commission for State Regulation of Financial Services Markets and Managing Director of the Deposit Guarantee Fund.

At this point, Ukraine still hasn’t endorsed legislation to legalize cryptocurrencies in the country despite increased activity in its crypto space; legislation talks which are reported to be looking at blockchain and the storage and trading of cryptocurrencies are long awaited by exchanges and miners.

The head of the NSMCS Timur Khromaev has recently suggested that the way to move forward on this is to recognize cryptocurrencies as tokens and financial instruments, which will then necessitate government regulation and licensing rules, all of which is currently absent. This he suggests would be “an important first step in building a consensus among government agencies and financial regulators.”

This regulatory framework would be needed, claims Kromaev to ensure the crypto space in Ukraine can ensure a high level of interaction between all participating players and market transparency.

Kromaev’s suggestions are not new as he pushed for proper regulation back in May, suggesting that the developing crypto industry is becoming an “integral part of economic and financial relations.”

Last month Ukrainian regulators turned their attention to crypto-mining when a Ukraine government agency announced that it has no plans to regulate cryptocurrency mining in the country.

The State Service for Special Communication and Information Protection of Ukraine made the announcement after a request to clarify the status of crypto mining by the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO), an organization which promotes economic freedom and efficient regulations in the country.

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Various financial firms maintain active cryptocurrency portfolios these days. Grayscale Investments is one of the more well-known companies in this regard. The company has published its first digital asset investment report, which offers rather interesting insights. Approximately $250 million was raised during the first half of 2018.

Grayscale Investments Continues to Truck Along

Few people seemingly know how Grayscale Investments operates exactly. The firm specializes in investing in cryptocurrencies through dedicated offerings which are accessible to mainstream investors. Its funds span multiple cryptocurrencies, and the company continues to expand its offerings whenever possible. Attracting more investors is a top priority for the company, although it is not an easy process.

Despite falling cryptocurrency prices throughout 2018, Grayscale Investments has seen plenty of positive momentum. The company raised around $250 million across all of its cryptocurrency products. This is a very promising trend, mainly because some of its offerings have seen market prices decline by 60% or more. A lower price seems to attract new investors, though, which is rather interesting.

Perhaps the most interesting statistic is that 56% of the capital raised came from institutional investors. This is a critical market for the cryptocurrency industry as a whole. There have been numerous efforts to offer cryptocurrency to institutional investors, although none of these ventures have proven to be overly successful. Grayscale is seemingly doing something right in this regard.

As one would expect, Bitcoin remains the most popular cryptocurrency as of right now. It represents 63% of the capital raised during the first half of 2018. All other currencies make up the remaining 37%, further confirming that altcoins are not of much interest to institutional investors and others. Ethereum may be the only exception in this regard, although this has not been confirmed by Grayscale at this time.

It will be interesting to see whether or not Grayscale Investments will further expand its cryptocurrency offerings. There is still a big market out there waiting to be tapped, although it remains to be seen whether any alternative currencies will help boost mainstream adoption.

Although these figures paint a positive outlook for all cryptocurrencies, the current market price does not warrant much optimism. Bearish pressure is still plaguing all markets right now, even though there has been a relatively steady Bitcoin uptrend in place for several days.

The city of Liverpool will use Malta-based Poseidon Foundation’s blockchain platform to offset the city’s climate impact by 110%

You know that major feature of blockchain technology? The one that cuts out the intermediaries and drives down the fees? Open banking is like fintech’s solution to that. If your bank is involved in open banking, it means that it’s part of a network of financial institutions. And between these institutions, your data is shared securely through APIs that let you interact with your preferred application rather than your bank.

According to Steve Lemon, co-founder and Head of Corporate Development at Currencycloud, a Google-backed cross-border payments platform, “Open banking is about opening up access to an individual’s bank account so that individual can access and utilize the functionality of their bank account through another application. It’s a bit like using your Facebook account to log in to a news site.”  

Open banking is basically an initiative to open up the banks and leverage the utility of the services they provide. Lemon explains:

“If you want to access payment networks, or provide facilities where you hold funds for a customer or execute payments from one person to another, effectively you have to be a bank to provide that service. And the services the banks provide are behind a walled garden. You have no choice but to do it in a bank. In the branch, online, or in an app.”

Until now.

So, Open Banking Is a Good Thing?

While it sounds a little frightening having your financial data opened up and flying around the stratosphere, the opposite is actually true. It’s bringing the ownership of the data back to you, the customer. Historically, only the banks have had access to your data and transactions.

Lemon comments, “The Holy Grail of data is transactional data, basket data from merchants, and geolocation data from telcos – and I think we may well see those things opened up as well.”

Moreover, open banking can help to make your data more secure. “Post-financial crisis, the regulators have recognized that society has a huge systemic risk in being so very exposed to such a small number of entities. The idea of open banking is it recognizes there is this new thing called fintech that is doing more to put the customer first.”

Let’s Take a Couple of Use Cases

If you’re still coming around to the concept, let’s look at a couple of examples. Say your preferred payment method is PayPal. Currently, you still have to interact with your bank in order to interact with PayPal. Opening banking would allow PayPal to interact on your behalf, cutting out a step and making transactions more convenient.

And here’s another. Lemon questions, “Would you give Amazon permission to access your bank and look at your transaction data to see what you’ve been spending on and to make payments on your behalf?”

When you put it like that, most people would say, “No way!” But if you give them the context and appropriate use case, the response will probably be different.

“When you use Amazon, you pay with a credit card and they pay a fee to the credit card company. If you put your bank details there and allow Amazon to pay, they may be able to give you a discount.”

Would you do it now?

Open Banking – Final Thoughts

There are a few barriers to open banking, not least widespread acceptance and cost. And of course, the incumbent banks who don’t necessarily want to rescind control of their services. But just as banks tremble in the tidal wave of fintech and the growing rise of crypto, those that move with the times will be the winners in the race.

“If you’re a bank, you might as well get on board now, disrupt yourself before you get disrupted by the competition. We’re seeing a lot of adoption especially in Asia, where the banks are a lot more forward-thinking in terms of the collaborative opportunities that open banking affords.”

Think about it this way. You have huge banks that are offering thousands of acceptable-to-mediocre services. And you have thousands of fintech providers that are excellent at the one service they offer. Collaborating can only be a good thing, or as Lemon concludes, “the whole will be greater than the sum of the separate parts.”

UK Surrey Police is reported to have completed its own Bitcoin transaction earlier this year after trading the proceeds of confiscated 296 BTCs, according to Forbes.

The sale, reportedly the first by a local police force in the UK, took place after Latvian Seregjs Teresko was arrested and deported for money laundering. Teresko has been sentenced to nine years in prison.

At the time of sale, the bitcoins were worth around $1.5 million, which certainly was bad timing for Surrey Police as two months later the price of Bitcoin rocketed from $5,000 to around $20,000.

On Thursday a local court ruled that the sale was legal, and Surrey Police was entitled to keep 18.8% of the confiscated funds and use it towards its operational fund; a budget bonus for the local police of some £273,000 (approx. $385,000)  A  spokesperson explained:

“Our responsibility was to ask the courts for permission to act, within the existing legal frameworks, and once given that permission, to take action…We wouldn’t speculate by holding onto any asset or property (whether bitcoin, jewellery, vehicle or otherwise) that was seized under Proceeds of Crime Act in the hope of it changing in value.”

“The police wouldn’t hodl, ” the spokesperson added, happy to use crypto terminology

The investigators made a significant haul when they raided the home of the Latvian, recovering jewelry, including gold bars, a BMW, and a Range Rover. The jewelry was valued at £50,000 ($65,000)

The police accessed the Bitcoin funds at the time by using Seregjs’s private key and setting up their own wallet and then selling it on an overseas cryptocurrency exchange.

In 2017, proposals for easy-seizure of illegally obtained bitcoin were recommended by UK law enforcement group N8 researchers, along with suggestions that the police also needed to extend their knowledge of cryptocurrency in order to fight money laundering.

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Tokenization on the blockchain can make all asset groups easier to liquidate by creating a tradeable standard in security tokens.

Longer term, return-seeking strategies typically tend towards investment in real estate, private equity, hedge funds, and companies. But as illiquid assets, these can be hard to shift quickly, and this locks up a vast amount of wealth.

Higher liquidity of such assets could bring substantial change to the market and alter how both big and small players alike make investments. For example, currently selling a house is no simple process and involves a lot of people getting paid before the sale completes—some time and money is thus needed to complete a deal. This affects everyone, but it certainly hits smaller businesses and individuals hardest.

A baby boomer with investments in real estate has to carefully choose when to sell, hope that a person will pay close to their asking price, and then pay the estate agent’s fees. Cash-strapped but asset-rich baby boomers are part of the reason that today there is a millennial housing crisis, and so it follows that higher liquidity for their properties would benefit both sides of the market.

So this is a process fraught with difficulty and risk, but it could all change on the blockchain. A house may be tokenized into one hundred parts, whereby you can buy a single token to take ownership of 1% of the house.

The blockchain brings some serious advantages here; the transaction is seamless and can be self-executing, through smart contracts which automatically finalize a deal upon the completion of set conditions. In the future, it is possible that people will be able to buy a house token-by-token from its owner, who will benefit from the gradual conversion of an illiquid asset into a regular stream of income.

Security tokens make it possible to track the ownership of an asset but furthermore make it easier for assets to quickly change hands. This is the vision of Tokenport, who seek to digitize assets by issuing security tokens for them. They recently announced a partnership with Lexit to host an open marketplace on the blockchain for the trade of intellectual property, assets, and parts of or entire companies.

There is great potential for distributed ledger technology on the blockchain to open up the free trade of previously illiquid assets. Albeit disruptive – there is no telling how the markets would react – it would ultimately cut out middlemen and provide broad and untold benefits.

If the world of finance is to become more honest, the transparency and immutability of blockchain smart contracts could be the means. The trade of assets should be clearly defined and honest, which is built in to the technology and, quite simply, inherent in a ‘trustless’ system offered on the blockchain.

A new era of investment could be ushered in by the new tech. If the blockchain is to empower the community of entrepreneurs, private investors, and businesses alike, then allowing unfettered access to a marketplace with asset-backed security tokens could be one of many routes to achieving this, in a way that was never before possible.

Celebrities and crypto — the good, the bad and the outright ridiculous